Dai Young blamed his senior Wasps players for a slipshod performance which dashed hopes of a Heineken Cup place next season for the 2004 and 2007 European champions.

Wasps’ director of rugby was left despondent as Exeter slickly made their chances count to keep on course for a European spot themselves for finishing in the top six.

Exeter outscored Wasps by four tries to three in an end-of-season game full of mistakes on a bone hard pitch.

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‘Give Exeter credit for the way they
played,’ Young said. ‘But they did not bring anything we did not know
about or expect. I felt a lot of senior players fell off a lot of
tackles you would expect them to make.’

Exeter now need to beat Gloucester in
their final game of the regular Aviva Premiership season on Saturday
week to be assured of a second successive campaign in the Heineken Cup.

Wasps kept in touch with Exeter, who led 20-10 at half-time, thanks to another try from in-form Christian Wade.

But each time Wasps threatened to get back into the game, Exeter punished their poor tackling again.

The two Jacks — hooker Yeandle and
wing Nowell — scored first-half tries to be followed by scores from lock
Damian Welch and scrum-half Haydn Thomas.